It's not only about tin and pepper
By Hyginus Hardoyo
Indonesia has declared the two tiny but resource-rich islands of Bangka and Belitung as its 31st province. The government, which officially launched the new province on Feb. 9, 2001, has assigned a provisional governor to set up a provincial infrastructure within six months to be followed by the election of a permanent governor.
Bangka-Belitung, previously a part of the South Sumatra province, has a population of some one million and is known for its tin and pepper production.
PANGKAL PINANG, Bangka-Belitung (JP): When Bangka-Belitung was inaugurated as Indonesia's 31st province early this year, a question frequently raised was whether this new province would be able to survive and be self-sustaining.
The question comes forth because Bangka-Belitung depends heavily on tin as its source of revenue, the reserves of which are being steadily depleted due to excessive exploitation.
However, the locals here are confident and optimistic on the future of the newly inaugurated province because of the abundant natural resources it is endowed with.
With regard to development, several representatives of the provincial administration and business circle, contacted after the inauguration, said the new province would be able to catch up with the other established provinces of the country.
Bangka-Belitung, they said, was well-known not only as a major producer of tin, but also pepper and other commodities such as kaolin, oil palm, rubber, coconut, swallow's nests and fish. Aside from tin, most of the other resources of the new province have not been fully developed or tapped.
Despite the forecast that the existing tin resources will run out in 15 to 20 years, it is not improbable that a new big reserve will be found as indicated by soil analysis.
According to data at the regional administration, publicly listed tin mining company PT Timah Tbk spends approximately Rp 120 billion (US$10.9 million) per month on employees' salaries, mining activities and procurement. The company plays a dominant role in the province's economic activities.
Located in the calm South China Sea between the two huge islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan, Bangka-Belitung also has a lot of beautiful white sandy beaches -- an untapped wealth, vital for the development of the tourist industry. Its capital, Pangkal Pinang, is accessible within 45 minutes by plane or nine hours by jetfoil from Jakarta.
Bangka and Belitung, which cover over 11,500 square kilometers and 4,500 square kilometers, respectively. They had a combined population of over one million with an annual per capita income of Rp 4.12 million in Bangka and Rp 3.7 million in Belitung in 2000, according to the local administration. Presently one third of the population in the province is of Chinese descent.
The bill for the creation of the Bangka-Belitung province was passed by the House of Representatives in November last year, ahead of the launching of the country's ambitious regional autonomy program at the beginning of this year.
The struggle by the local people to establish an independent province actually started in 1956, when Bangka Belitung was called Bangka-Belitung residency. Their efforts almost bore fruit in the early 1970s when the proposal for an independent province entered the third level of deliberation at the House of Representatives. However, it ended in vain because of the unfavorable political situation at the time.
The enactment of Regulation No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy during the reformation era helped speed up the process of separating Bangka-Belitung from South Sumatra.
"The most promising thing here is that as a new province, we now have a regional income of nearly Rp 40 billion (about $3.6 million) per annum, far higher than Bengkulu and several other provinces," Bangka-Belitung provisional governor Amur Muchasim told The Jakarta Post in Pangkal Pinang in early April.
"If the province is managed properly, its potential can be improved further. The opportunities are there. It depends on how the Bangka-Belitung people themselves make use of them," he said.
"My job is to build a foundation for the establishment of an effective regional administration," said Amur, who was assigned by Minister of Home Affairs and Regional Autonomy Surjadi Soedirdja to prepare for the election of a permanent governor within six months, that would be before July.
Amur explained that during his two-month tenure as an acting governor, he had set up a committee for selecting members of the local legislative council, which will later be in charge of electing a permanent governor.
"Out of the 45 members of the legislative council, 40 will be representatives of political parties and five from the Indonesian Military," he said.
He admitted that one of the biggest problems he was facing now was that many of the candidates for council member, were not Bangka-Belitung, but from Palembang, the capital of South Sumatra.
"This will cause resentment among the local people," he said, adding that he would urge executives of the regional offices of political parties to help find a way to prevent a crisis.
Recruitment of civil servants to work at the new provincial administration has lately sparked debate on whether the province should employ indigenous people or those from other islands. The debate stemmed from an offer by South Sumatra Governor Rosihan Risyad to assign up to 400 employees of the fourth and fifth echelon from his administration who are facing early retirement due to streamlining in bureaucracy in line with the implementation of the regional autonomy, to Bangka-Belitung.
Achmad Dasuki, a Bangka-born member of the South Sumatra legislative council, said the offer was good as it was better to recruit experienced employees as it would help speed up development in the new province. "Hiring new recruits will only burden the local administration as it has to spend money on testing and training them," Dasuki was quoted by the Bangka Pos daily as saying.
An advisor to the Bangka-Belitung acting governor, Achmad Rusdi, said whatever the suggestion, when recruiting new personnel, his administration would give priority to civil servants from Bangka and Belitung regencies, Pangkal Pinang mayoralty and the Bangka and Belitung indigenous people who are working in other provinces.
In line with the preparation for the establishment of a permanent regional administration, Amur disclosed that he had earmarked four major areas as priority for development, namely the tourist industry, the manufacturing industry (including kaolin and tin processing), plantations (especially pepper) and fishery.
He said tourism was chosen because the province had attractive rock-studded beaches in Parai and Tanjung Pesona in Sungailiat, and white sandy beaches in Pasir Padi near Pangkal Pinang.
The beaches are regarded as more beautiful that even Bali's famous Kuta beach.
Amur explained that he was still in the process of lobbying the central government to make Pangkal Pinang an international gateway to help attract foreign tourists.
"We are currently negotiating with Singapore's Silk Air and Malaysia's Pelangi Air on introducing flight services from Singapore and Johor Bahru, respectively, to Pangkal Pinang," Amur said.
In principle the government has given its consent to the negotiations, and a memorandum of understanding for the cooperation is being prepared, he said.
He said the local administration was also planning to extend the length of Depati Amir Airport's runway in Pangkal Pinang from the current 1,800 meters to 2,000 meters to enable it to accommodate bigger aircraft.
Four other foreign and domestic investors have expressed interest in investing in the airport expansion project and in various other ventures, including the development of Matras Beach Resort, oil palm plantations, export-oriented sheep breeding, power generation, city street lighting and seaport development.
The investors will conduct field surveys before negotiating further with representatives of the regional administration, regency and mayoralty.
The aggressive campaign launched by the Bangka-Belitung Investment and Promotion Board (BIPB), which was established by young Bangka-Belitung executives, is largely responsible for the current interest in the province being shown by investors.
The establishment of BIPB aimed mainly at inviting both domestic and foreign investors to help develop and utilize the abundant natural resources in Bangka and Belitung.
Beni Sindhunata, one of BIPB's director, told the Post that the establishment of the Bangka-Belitung province did not constitute the end of a struggle, but the beginning of an endeavor to create a just and prosperous community.
"We are fully aware that investors will only come if they are given accurate data on the various investment possibilities here. Providing such data is our job," Beni said.